I have a machine which is supposed to be a media server. I have tried to install Ubuntu (both alternate and regular i386). The installation (and boot to usb drive) went on fine, but after the install I tried to load the machine and it froze.

In the case of i386 I get the error "hd0 out of disk" and am left with a grub rescue console. set gives:

Have you tried the recover options when running the install again from the thumb drive. I might also try re installing grub. If you can boot into a live environment.
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nelaarAug 4 '11 at 9:05

Yes, I tried the recover operation after the new install. I don't think that re installing grub will work since this will be the exact same operation as the one carried by the install process. I'll try though...
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YotamAug 4 '11 at 9:07

Is this a standard sata hard drive or a ssd hard drive.
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nelaarAug 4 '11 at 9:08

@nelaar, This is an interesting question. I don't think this is a ssd since this is a cheap machine. The manufacture claims this is a SATA2 hard drive. I'm not sure since I remember this is a 320GB Toshiba hard drive with S.M.A.R.T technoligy while the link I posted state this is a 250 GB. When I'll get back home I'll check this.
–
YotamAug 4 '11 at 9:15

1 Answer
1

I would start with testing your hardware. It is probably not RAM but I would test that first anyway to prove it isn't a problem.

Next I would move onto the hard drive. You could try the diagnostics on the Ultimate Boot CD. There is a tool for most brands of hard drive. The other thing I would recommend is to try a different hard drive in your machine. Also changing USB cables if this is a desktop machine.

Hopefully at some point during this process you isolated the problem. If not then I think it is probably a software issue not hardware.